Perspectives

“The Ants,” a poem by Matthew Rohrer: Nothing is more important to the ant / whose exoskeleton has been breached / by mushroom spores…

Climate change, changing migration patterns, and our agriculture system have created a perfect environment for fungal pathogens to thrive.

By closely linking science and technology with development, international institutions can help to build better lives for people in Central America and the Caribbean.

To counter worrying trends in domestic R&D, Japan’s science and technology policy pivoted to a radical new approach to international research collaboration.

Farmers and scientists are collaborating in Pittsburg, Kansas, to reinvigorate the local economy through biorubber production.

Chair of the National Science Board Darío Gil also leads IBM Research, one of the largest corporate labs in the world. He discusses how science is the new currency of power, the challenges in developing a STEM workforce, and the possibility of a “NATO of science and technology.”

Timothy Lieuwen proposes a framework that universities can use to evaluate potential research funding relationships with oil and gas companies in light of their own values.

Scaling failures are often dismissed as unforeseeable, but it is possible to understand why inventions fail at scale and prevent them. It requires asking—before research begins—why an idea would fail at scale. This process, called “option C thinking,” asks social scientists to consider the big picture and design larger-scale experiments.

As artificial intelligence evolves and strains the bounds of copyright and other areas of the law, a creative legal approach can strike the proper balance between regulating and encouraging this new technology.

Tribal Epidemiology Centers, tasked with analyzing the health data of American Indian and Alaska Native communities and reducing health disparities, are often prevented from accessing public health data that are necessary to respond effectively to crises—including the COVID-19 pandemic. Data-sharing policies and culture must change to prevent further harm.

“When My OB/GYN Said He Didn’t Understand Poetry,” a poem by Christine Stewart-Nuñez.

Biochemist Katalin Karikó won the Nobel Prize for research that laid the groundwork for effective COVID-19 vaccines. She talks about how hard work and focus—rather than innate talent—led to her scientific success, and about the joy of solving interesting puzzles.